The First Bone

When the Zhou and Ning families had eaten their fill and were finishing their preparations, Pang Jian emerged from the stone pile at the perfect moment.

"Pang Jian, you shall ride this horse."

Seeing him appear, Zhou Qingchen, who had switched to He Ziren's black steed, waved with a smile from a distance.

Beside him stood the jujube-red warhorse that had once belonged to Liu Qi, now occupied by Pang Jian.

"The Dragon-Patterned Spear on the horse is yours to use."

Zhou Qingchen pointed to the long spear hanging at the horse's flank and said with a bright smile, "From here on, we are comrades-in-arms. That long blade you usually carry is not a weapon for us practitioners. I heard from Miss Ning that you have also stepped onto the path of cultivation, so take the Dragon-Patterned Spear to get a feel for it."

"Later, if we find more suitable equipment, you can swap it out."

The elder and the young lady of the Ning Family, seeing Zhou Qingchen's sudden change in attitude toward Pang Jian, were unsure what he was plotting.

First, he had personally brought meat to the stone pile, and now he was gifting him the Dragon-Patterned Spear of his fallen subordinate; such oddities made the two members of the Ning Family suspicious.

The remaining Zhou Family retainers, including Han Duping, were also left bewildered by Zhou Qingchen's actions.

Pang Jian remained calm. After offering a soft word of thanks, he climbed onto the warhorse and tested the weight of the Dragon-Patterned Spear.

The shaft felt rough in his grip, marked with natural wood grain that, upon closer inspection, truly resembled dragon scales.

The spearhead was made of a silvery, bright metal that shimmered with a cold, sharp luster.

When he lifted it with force, Pang Jian realized the shaft, made of some unknown wood, was incredibly heavy—several times heavier than the long blade he was accustomed to!

He swung it back and forth to adjust to the weight, then pointed the spear toward the depths of the mountains and asked, "The Cenji Mountains are vast. Do you have a specific direction in mind?"

Zhou Qingchen thought for a moment and said, "Head north, toward the area closest to the Ghost Mist."

Ning Yao and Ning Yuanshan's expressions shifted slightly at his words, and they looked at him in surprise.

Previously, when they discussed their plans, they had only mentioned searching for the Remains of the Heavenly Phoenix, as well as artifacts dropped by the Blood Moon, the Galaxy Alliance, and the Yin Spirit Temple.

The Ning Family had not intended to venture deep into the far north to risk exploring the anomalies of the "Ghost Mist."

"It's fine; we aren't actually going to enter the area shrouded by the Ghost Mist."

Seeming to notice their concerns, Zhou Qingchen chuckled and continued, "I have a feeling that the Remains of the Heavenly Phoenix, along with the searchers from the three major factions, are located in the north, near the Ghost Mist."

Ning Yuanshan reluctantly agreed, saying stiffly, "Well... alright then."

"The valley we are in is at the southernmost point of the Cenji Mountains. If we head north, we can go straight. However, there are two paths: one is a mountain trail that requires climbing, and the other follows the winding riverbed, though it is a detour and will be slower. How would you like to proceed?"

Pang Jian took the initiative to ask.

"Since you are the most familiar with this place, you decide." Zhou Qingchen appeared indifferent.

"If we are riding horses, let's follow the riverbed," Pang Jian suggested earnestly.

"As you wish," Zhou Qingchen replied with a ready smile.

Ning Yao frowned, a flicker of dissatisfaction in her heart. Pang Jian was clearly the guide she had hired, but looking at Zhou Qingchen's demeanor, why did it seem like Pang Jian had become his man?

Dissatisfied as she was, she did not show it and remained silent.

For the remainder of the journey, Pang Jian determined the route and direction, leading the group along the murky, silt-laden stream.

Whenever the group stopped to rest and eat, Pang Jian would slip away alone to a secluded spot, take out the cracked, grayish-white rock from his bamboo basket, and practice the "Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art."

As long as he covered the cracks in the rock with his palm, a rich "Profound Yin Power" would seep out, flowing into his Dantian's spirit sea to cleanse it of impurities.

The peculiar rock he had obtained by chance allowed his cultivation to progress rapidly, and much of the "cotton-like" substance within his spirit sea had been cleared away.

As the "cotton" continued to diminish, he could clearly feel his spirit sea becoming brighter and more spacious, and the energy he channeled into it encountered less resistance when he moved.

He was soon convinced that with the help of that rock, it wouldn't be long before he cleared all the impurities from his spirit sea.

"A piece of the Remains of the Heavenly Phoenix!"

That day, while on his horse, Zhou Qingchen gazed into the dense forest in the distance and suddenly exclaimed with excitement, "Do you see it?"

Prompted by his warning, the group looked toward the distance and immediately saw a withered bone, like a giant pillar supporting the heavens, thrust into the forest several miles away. Even from such a distance, it was a staggering sight.

"Go!"

The group whipped their reins, urging their horses to accelerate.

Pang Jian, acting as the guide, was left behind by the others, stunned by the sheer size of the withered bone.

Only when he got closer did he realize the immense scale of a single bone of the Heavenly Phoenix, and he couldn't help but wonder: just how massive must that mysterious Heavenly Phoenix have been in its true form?

When he realized the others were gradually slipping out of his sight, he hurriedly spurred his horse to catch up.

A moment later, Pang Jian, who had fallen to the rear, finally arrived at the location of the Heavenly Phoenix's remains.

The bone, over a hundred meters long, pierced the forest like a sword, causing the earth to crack into spiderweb-like fissures.

It was as if the moment it struck the ground, it had unleashed a terrifying energy wave, the lingering power of which had torn the surrounding land apart!

Even from dozens of meters away, a vast, ancient, and sacred aura emanated from the lusterless bone, making everyone who looked up at it feel an uncontrollable urge to prostrate themselves in worship.

The Remains of the Heavenly Phoenix stood upon the earth like a mountain, as if it could suppress all the demons and monsters of the Cenji Mountains.

Pang Jian's heart and mind were completely overwhelmed by the shock.

A single withered bone, over a hundred meters long and as thick as the root of a giant tree—what earth-shattering, shocking splendor must that Heavenly Phoenix have possessed in life?

Was it not a creature of myth?

No wonder that divine bird, which once hovered above their family's territory, could be so easily assassinated.

"The Indeterminate Ferry of the Blood Moon!"

As Pang Jian's mind surged with wild imaginings, Ning Yuanshan suddenly let out a soft cry, pointing toward the area behind the withered bone.

Immediately, the massive sailing ship Pang Jian had seen before—the one with the pitch-black banner bearing a floating crimson crescent moon—emerged from behind the bone within his line of sight.

"Let's go take a look!"

Following Ning Yuanshan's shout, Pang Jian and the others spurred their horses to circle around the bone, moving in to observe at close range.

They saw a sailing ship, dozens of meters long, which had crushed countless trees and now sat anchored upon a bed of debris and withered branches.

Surrounding the ship were scattered, blood-stained remains, some still clad in garments bearing the Blood Moon emblem.

"These are the true Blood Moon practitioners."

Ning Yuanshan took one look and couldn't help but cover his nose, saying, "After they died, the local beasts must have devoured their flesh and viscera. Look, beside their corpses, even blood-stained gold and silver artifacts have been spat out."

Unlike the corpses of the Yin Spirit Temple found within the stone piles, these remains, stripped of their flesh, emitted a pungent, bloody stench that made one feel like retching.

"Were they killed by the local beasts, or by people from the Yin Spirit Temple and the Galaxy Alliance? Or is there some other danger in the Cenji Mountains?" Ning Yao couldn't help but question the cause of death.

"The beasts of the Cenji Mountains shouldn't have the ability to kill practitioners," Pang Jian said.

Having frequented the Cenji Mountains for years, he knew better than anyone what kind of power the beasts here possessed.

He didn't believe even the most ferocious of them could handle figures like Zhou Qingchen or Ning Yuanshan, so the death of the Blood Moon practitioners likely had nothing to do with the mountain beasts.

"No, you do not understand the power of the Ghost Mist."

Zhou Qingchen's expression turned somber. He shook his head and said gravely, "I am certain that the Ghost Mist has permeated from the Boundary Wall to the northernmost part of the mountains. Any beast that wanders into it and manages to come out alive will inevitably undergo a mutation, becoming a fierce or spirit beast many times more powerful than it was before."

"And such beasts are no longer the species you are familiar with; they can no longer be called mere beasts."

At these words, Pang Jian felt a chill in his heart, realizing he truly knew little about the "Ghost Mist."

Although he had been active in the Cenji Mountains for years, he had never encountered the "Ghost Mist," and he had always been restricted by his father, who strictly forbade him from hunting in the far north.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A sudden gust of wind whistled, and the black banner standing atop the Indeterminate Ferry snapped and fluttered.

As the banner moved, the massive, scarlet crescent moon at its center released an eerie, blood-red light, bathing the surroundings in a deep crimson glow.

Under the deep red light, those fleshless skeletons suddenly appeared incredibly ghastly.

"Don't make any rash moves."

Zhou Qingchen stared at the blood moon on the banner, sensing it silently before saying, "I will go confirm whether this fallen Phoenix Bone has any lingering wonders. As for you all... wait to the side for now. Do not touch the artifacts left by those corpses, and do not approach the Indeterminate Ferry."

"Understood!"

Having experienced the harrowing ordeal at the stone pile, everyone was cautious this time and obeyed obediently.

Zhou Qingchen dismounted, either avoiding the larger fissures or leaping directly over them, and soon reached the spot where the giant bone had landed.

With his back to the group, he pulled something from his robes and appeared to be examining it carefully.

"It is not."

Zhou Qingchen soon had his answer.

Still facing away from the group, he put away the item he had retrieved and turned around, saying, "It is just an ordinary Phoenix Bone; there is not a shred of wonder inside. The death of the Blood Moon practitioners has nothing to do with this bone; they must have been killed by something else."

"Very well, you may all spread out and search now, but remain cautious."

In Zhou Qingchen's mind, the Remains of the Heavenly Phoenix were the most terrifying thing present. Seeing that it wasn't what he had feared, his mood eased slightly, and he signaled for everyone to search as they pleased.

Yet, he still cautioned, "As for... the Indeterminate Ferry, do not enter it. Search the corpses first and see if there is anything strange about the artifacts they left behind."

The group moved into action quickly.

Pang Jian knew he likely had no claim to the practitioners' belongings and that it was better to wait for Zhou Qingchen to offer them voluntarily, so he did not scatter with the others to scavenge, but instead waited quietly.

He did not know how much time had passed when Zhou Qingchen suddenly frowned and barked, "Someone is coming."

The busy group stopped immediately upon hearing this, their expressions tense as they stood ready.

Whether they were from the Blood Moon or the Yin Spirit Temple, these were practitioners from the Upper Realm, and most were of a higher cultivation level than them.

If those powerful figures were now dying in droves within the Cenji Mountains, what chance did they have?

They had no choice but to be doubly cautious.

After a long moment, accompanied by the sound of deliberately muffled footsteps, a group of people gradually revealed themselves, emerging from the woods behind the Indeterminate Ferry.

Both sides let out a sigh of relief as they locked eyes.

"People from the Zhou Family and the Ning Family!"

"So it is the Shangguan Family!"

Amidst the relieved murmurs, the group of nine finally dared to step out into the open, having clearly been even more cautious than the others.

The person in the lead was dressed as a graceful noblewoman, wearing a luxurious, brightly colored gown, with exquisite jewelry shimmering all over her body.

With her beautiful features, she was like a perfectly ripe peach, her figure possessing extremely alluring curves.

At this moment, she clutched her high, fair, and deep-cleavaged chest, chiding with exaggerated alarm, "You scared me to death! I thought I'd run into a survivor from the Upper Realm who was going to slaughter us all."

The voluptuous woman swayed gracefully as she approached, casting a flirtatious glance at Zhou Qingchen from afar. "Qingchen, it's been such a long time. Seeing that it's you, I can finally rest easy."

Zhou Qingchen smiled nonchalantly. "So it is Aunt Qin."

"Sister Qin, your Brother Han is here too." The bloated and unsightly Han Duping squinted his small eyes, leering greedily at the expanse of white, supple skin on her chest. Ignoring her face to focus solely on her bosom, he said, "Everyone says you're a husband-killer, but I'm not afraid. Since two of your men are already dead, why don't we just make do and live together?"

"As long as you nod, Sister, I'll part ways with this Zhou lad immediately and defect to your Shangguan Family."

Han Duping thumped his chest in assurance, putting on a show as if he were ready to break ties with Zhou Qingchen right then and there to become a servant under her skirt.

Knowing exactly what kind of character Han Duping was, Zhou Qingchen wore a look of helpless resignation and laughed, "We've known each other for so long, Old Han. If you really intend to do that, aside from bidding you a painful farewell, I'll even prepare a generous parting gift."

"Pah! You fat melon, stop daydreaming!" Shangguan Qin's beautiful face clouded over with disgust and coldness, and she mocked him without giving him an ounce of face, "You old toad, you actually want to eat swan meat?"

"Ha, you've already caused the deaths of two husbands, and you're not exactly young anymore, so you can hardly be called a swan," Han Duping chuckled, exposing her past.

Shangguan Qin was so angry that her breathing grew rapid, which only made the high mounds on her chest appear all the more prominent and surging.

"Squeak!"

A tall, burly man wrapped in heavy, thick armor appeared at the very back of the Shangguan group, dragging a massive iron cage with one hand.

Pang Jian, who had been mingling among the Ning and Zhou families without paying much attention to the newcomers, suddenly looked toward a gray ape inside the iron cage.

The gray ape had a pair of strange, ice-blue eyes that radiated violence and cruelty; even as a prisoner, it still looked murderous.

At the same time Pang Jian saw it, the scarred gray ape also looked toward Pang Jian.

"Do you know it?"

Ning Yao, who was standing next to Pang Jian, followed the gaze of the gray ape's ice-blue eyes to the man beside her and couldn't help but ask in surprise.